U2 Go PopMart

Press Release by PRNewswire (1997-02-12)

NEW YORK, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ — U2 begin the first leg of their international PopMart tour in America at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium April 25.

The PopMart tour — a giant, sci-fi disco supermarket setting — will play in stadiums in 62 cities in 20 countries through December 1997, and extends into an additional 20 countries in 1998.  “POP,” U2’s 8th studio album, is released March 4 in North America, and March 3 in the rest of the world, on Island Records.

PopMart will visit Las Vegas, San Diego, Denver, Salt Lake City, Eugene, Phoenix, Dallas, Memphis, Clemson, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Washington, D.C., Raleigh, New York, Philadelphia, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Oakland, Los Angeles, Madison, Chicago, Boston, Rotterdam, Werchter, Cologne, Leipzig, Mannheim, Gothenburgh, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Katowice, Prague, Wiener Neustadt, Nurnberg, Hannover, London, Leeds, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, Montpellier, Reggio Emilia, Thessaloniki, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Minneapolis, Detroit, Montreal, St. Louis, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, Indianapolis, New Orleans, San Antonio, Atlanta, Houston, Mexico City, Vancouver and Seattle.

On tour with U2 will be the world’s largest video screen, a high-technology, state-of-the-art structure using 22 miles (35 kilometers) of cable, 21,000 circuit boards, 120,000 connectors, and 150,000 pixels made up of 1,000,000 LEDs.  The enormous screen is 150 feet x 50 feet, covering 833 square yards (700 sq. meters) yet weighs only 65,000 pounds.

The PopMart stage design includes a single Golden Arch 100 feet high, a 35-foot-high Mirrorball Lemon, a 12-foot-wide internally illuminated Stuffed Olive (on a 100-foot-tall toothpick) — and a 3-inch-tall Squeaky Nun.

On hand for the band to work with will be 1,000 lighting fixtures including over 5,000 feet of disco rope lighting, a large Plexiglas dance floor, 6 lightning machines, 6 broadcast tv cameras, 1 headset camera, 20 Xenon searchlights, 100 strobe lights — in addition to the 35-foot-high Mirrorball Lemon.

The touring ensemble, consisting of over 200 people, and the stage set (including a 30-ton PA system as part of 1,200 tons of equipment) will travel on 15 buses and 52 trucks.

By special arrangement, MTV and VH1 will present U2’s PopMart in the United States, giving fans an early opportunity to buy tickets through the networks’ Tickets First program.  Beginning on Friday, February 14, for a one-month period, tickets will be sold the Friday evening before the general public Saturday on-sale dates.

NORTH AMERICA 1ST LEG
APRIL

  • Fri. 25th    Las Vegas          Sam Boyd Stadium
  • Mon. 28th    San Diego          Jack Murphy Stadium
    MAY
  • Thurs. 1st     Denver           Mile High Stadium
  • Sat. 3rd       Salt Lake City   Rice Stadium
  • Tues. 6th      Eugene           Autzen Stadium
  • Fri. 9th       Phoenix          Sun Devil Stadium
  • Mon. 12th      Dallas           Cotton Bowl
  • Wed. 14th      Memphis          Liberty Bowl
  • Fri. 16th      Clemson          Death Valley Stadium
  • Mon. 19th      Kansas City      Arrowhead Stadium
  • Thurs. 22nd    Pittsburgh       Three Rivers Stadium
  • Sat. 24th      Columbus         The Ohio Stadium
  • Mon. 26th      Washington, D.C. R.F.K. Stadium*
  • Thurs. 29th    Raleigh          Carter Finley Stadium
  • Sat. 31st      New York         Giants Stadium*
    JUNE
  • Sun. 8th       Philadelphia     Franklin Field*
  • Thurs. 12th    Winnipeg         Winnipeg Stadium
  • Sat. 14th      Edmonton         Commonwealth Stadium*
  • Wed. 18th      Oakland          Oakland Coliseum
  • Sat. 21st      Los Angeles      L.A. Memorial Coliseum*
  • Wed. 25th      Madison          Camp Randall Stadium
  • Fri. 27th      Chicago          Soldier Field*
    JULY
  • Tues. 1st      Boston           Foxboro Stadium* * DENOTES ON SALE DATE OF FEB. 15
     ** DENOTES ON SALE DATE OF FEB. 17

EUROPE
    JULY

  • Fri. 18th      Rotterdam, Holland   Feynoord*
  • Fri. 25th      Werchter, Belgium    Festival site*
  • Sun. 27th      Cologne, Germany     Butweizer Hof
  • Tues. 29th     Leipzig, Germany     Festweise
  • Thurs. 31st    Mannheim, Germany    Maimankt
    AUGUST
  • Sat. 2nd       Gothenburg, Sweden        Ullevi
  • Mon. 4th       Copenhagen, Denmark       Parken**
  • Wed. 6th       Oslo, Norway              Vallehovin*
  • Sat. 9th       Helsinki, Finland         Olympic Stadium
  • Tues. 12th     Katowice, Poland          Sleski Stadium
  • Thurs. 14th    Prague, Czezh Republic    Strahov Stadium**
  • Sat. 16th      Wiener Neustadt, Austria  Airfield*
  • Mon. 18th      Nurnberg, Germany         Zeppetinfeld
  • Wed. 20th      Hannover, Germany         Expo
  • Fri. 22nd      London, England           Wembley Stadium
  • Thurs. 28th    Leeds, England            Roundhay Park
  • Sat. 30th      Dublin, Ireland           T.B.A.
    SEPTEMBER
  • Tues. 2nd      Edinburgh, Scotland       Murrayfield
  • Sat. 6th       Paris, France             Parc des Princes*
  • Mon. 15th      Montpellier, France       Espace Grammont
  • Sat. 20th      Reggio Emilia, Italy      Festival Site
  • Fri. 26th      Thessaloniki, Greece      Kaftatzoglio
  • Tues. 30th     Tel Aviv, Israel          Hayarkon Park *  DENOTES ON SALE DATE OF FEB. 15 ** DENOTES ON SALE DATE OF FEB. 17

NORTH AMERICA 2ND LEG
OCTOBER

  • Sun. 26th      Toronto, Canada     Skydome*
  • Wed. 29th      Minneapolis         Metrodome
  • Fri. 31st      Detroit             Silverdome
    NOVEMBER
  • Sun. 2nd       Montreal, Canada    Olympic Stadium
  • Sat. 8th       St. Louis           Trans World Dome
  • Mon. 10th      Tampa               Tampa Stadium
  • Wed. 12th      Jacksonville        Municipal Stadium
  • Fri. 14th      Miami               Pro Player Stadium
  • Wed. 19th      Indianapolis        Hoosier Dome
  • Fri. 21st      New Orleans         Superdome
  • Sun. 23rd      San Antonio         Alamodome
  • Wed. 26th      Atlanta             Georgia Dome
  • Fri. 29th      Houston             Astrodome
    DECEMBER
  • Tues. 2nd      Mexico City, Mexico  Autodromo
  • Tues. 9th      Vancouver, Canada    B.C. Place Stadium
  • Thurs. 11th    Seattle              Kingdome

ALSO PLAYING

  • SPAIN
  • PORTUGAL
  • BRAZIL
  • CHILE
  • ARGENTINA
  • AUSTRALIA
  • NEW ZEALAND
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • JAPAN
  • SOUTH EAST ASIA

*  DENOTES ON SALE DATE OF FEB. 15 ** DENOTES ON SALE DATE OF FEB. 17

Michael Cohl, on behalf of the recently formed TNA Group, announced today the launch of U2’s world-wide PopMart tour. The TNA Group was formed just over a year ago to capitalize on 20 years of innovation and excellence in the presentation and production of global entertainment events.

Today’s announcement of the worldwide U2 PopMart tour maintains the global vision.  In the course of the next 12 months, U2 will visit Europe, North and South Americas, Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and more locations.

Over the past 20 years, the TNA Management Team have promoted thousands of shows including the three most successful tours in concert history:  the 1989/90 Rolling Stones Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour; the 1994 Pink Floyd Division Bell Tour, and the 1994/95 Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Tour.  The TNA team has also promoted David Bowie’s Sound & Vision Tour, Paul Simon’s Born At The Right Time, and most recently David Bowie’s Outside Tour. The TNA team features Concert Productions International alumni Arthur Fogel, President of TNA and former President Concert Productions International, Steve Howard, Vice President TNA, and Gerry Barad, Director of Touring.

Cohl said:  “On behalf of the TNA team, I’m proud to be a part of the U2 PopMart tour — which will surely be one of the most successful tours ever.”

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